NBA: Sixers' Holiday on the road, but may not play

PHILADELPHIA — Jrue Holiday made the trip to Indiana with the 76ers. Whether he’ll suit up and play tonight isn’t as concrete.

Holiday did not practice with the team Thursday. Suffering from soreness of the longitudinal arch in his left foot, Holiday traded in hoisting jump shots for subjecting himself to a few medical tests. X-rays on his foot were negative, while an MRI showed he has a left foot sprain, according to the Sixers.

What does all that mean? Well, the Sixers (12-10) might be without their starting point guard tonight against the Pacers (11-11). It’s possible Evan Turner would get the start at Holiday’s position, with Nick Young handling the ball off the bench, said Sixers coach Doug Collins.

“I sure hope I don’t have to think about that option,” Collins said, after a brief practice at PCOM. “Until I see (Holiday) and know he’s OK, it’s a little disconcerting. He’s been fabulous. … He’s been great.”

Should the Sixers be forced to go without Holiday in the lineup beyond tonight, they could be in trouble. Holiday has meant everything to the team, for which he’s the per-game leader in scoring (18.4), minutes (38.5) and assists (8.9).

He’s also chipping in with the sixth-best shooting percentage among guards in the Eastern Conference. That might justify Holiday’s status as the East’s 10th-leading vote getter in backcourt players, per the first swath of ballot results released by the NBA Thursday.

In his first season as the primary ballhandler in Collins’ backcourt, Holiday ranks third in the league in assists per game. He’s been the glue holding together a team that, at season’s outset, was putting more than a few eggs in the Andrew Bynum basket.

“It’s the one thing we’re trying to do here,” Collins said. “The really, really good teams in this league have a core group of like three guys that you build your team around. You take those three and you build the (other) pieces.

“It’s interesting — as we started the season, we thought Jrue would be one piece and Andrew Bynum would be another piece — who was going to emerge as that third guy? Now we have Jrue, Evan and Thad (Young). Now it’s a different way of putting those pieces together. You just keep trying to find different guys to be out there and find consistency.”

Holiday, who was undergoing his myriad of tests, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

A team official said Holiday did not experience any pain or discomfort Wednesday, after the Sixers’ 96-89 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Rather, Holiday felt soreness in the foot after waking up Thursday. The Sixers confirmed that Holiday boarded the team’s flight to Indiana and is regarded as a game-time decision for the 7 p.m. tipoff at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Until then, the Sixers — and their supporters — are in wait-and-see mode.

* * *Thad Young was a spectator at practice.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Young has averaged 36.2 minutes per game in his last eight starts, on top of his 35.5 minutes-per-game tally in this, his first season as a full-time starter. His career average is 28.6, so his work load has been ramped up.

Collins said he wanted to rest Young because “he arm-wrestled (Chicago’s) big guys yesterday.” Collins said he’s “walking a fine line” between working players like Young and not allowing them to break down.

NOTESRoyal Ivey (strep throat) did not make the trip to Indiana. Damien Wilkins (right calf strain) did. Wilkins is a game-time decision. … For the second straight practice, the curtain went up, opening media to the Sixers’ session, and Andrew Bynum was on the floor. Thursday, Bynum took a 3-pointer without leaving his feet, then exiting the court.